Tasmania’s Resources Minister Felix Ellis said he was pleased to table the Forestry (Miscellaneous Amendment) Bill 2023. Source: Timberbiz
“If passed, amendments proposed in the Bill will see more money put back into the pockets of Tasmanian businesses by removing the requirement for the private forest service levy to be paid on first rotations on areas of previously cleared land,” Minister Ellis said.
“To further assist landholders and industry, the Bill proposes a more streamlined application process for minor boundary changes to private timber reserves, reducing administrative costs and time.
“Further, the Bill will see the board of Private Forests Tasmania given powers to waive the private forest service levy under special circumstances. This would include situations where private forests are impacted by flood or fire.
“Industry have been closely consulted during the review process, with public consultation also taking place. I also thank Private Forests Tasmania for their efforts in helping progress these reforms.”
He said that the Rockliff Liberal Government is committed to seeing Tasmania’s world-class forest management framework remain at the cutting edge and fit for purpose.
This bill aims to amend the Forest Practices Act 1985 and the Private Forests Act 1994.
In response the EDO a community legal centre specialising in public interest environmental law said that it welcomed the opportunity to comment on the draft Forestry (Miscellaneous Amendments) Bill 2023 (the Bill).
While many of the proposed amendments to the Forest Practices Act 1985 (the Act) in the Bill are uncontroversial, EDO is particularly concerned by the proposal to diminish the already limited opportunities for the community to be notified about, object to or appeal against boundary extensions to existing private timber reserves.
The Bill proposes to amend the Act to allow the operators of existing private timber reserves to extend their boundaries by no more than 10% in area (to a maximum of 50 additional hectares and providing the boundary is not within 50 metres of neighbouring land) without completing the public notification or objections phases under the Act.
These extensions are referred to as “minor boundary extensions” under the Bill.
EDO repeats its recommendation that those changes to the Act set out in clauses 5, 6, 7 and 8 of the Bill not proceed.
Alternatively, EDO recommends that the definition of “minor boundary extension” in the Bill be amended so that:
(a) a person can only make an application for a “minor boundary extension” for a particular private timber reserve once; and
(b) the maximum size for a “minor boundary extension” is 10 per cent of the private timber reserve area (up to a maximum of 10 hectares), and the minimum distance from neighbouring properties is increased to 200 metres.
